Edmonton Commonwealth Walkway

Posted by & filed under .

The Commonwealth Walkway project is a standalone exhibit expanding 10KM through the North Saskatchewan River Valley. From the Funicular to the Groat Bridge, the Walkway includes paths to the Indigenous Art Park, John Walter Museum and Alberta Legislature and displays 31 Medallion’s displaying Queen Elizabeth II’s personal monogram. At each medallion, place-specific stories live on the Commonwealth Walkway app developed in partnership with Lift Interactive. The project was curated in 2019 by the Edmonton Heritage Council’s program team and saw over 3,200 app downloads and another 40,000 visits to the desktop version.

Edmonton Commonwealth Walkway app available now:

(App Store) & (Google Play Store)

  We now celebrate a refreshing new selection of 46 stories that include poetry, visual art, and prose paired with archival and contemporary photos of Indigenous Peoples in Edmonton, so we see the ways in which Indigenous Peoples have always, and continue to, live on and care for this land. These 46 stories were shared by 14 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit storytellers. These storytellers included Knowledge Holders, Elders, urban and reserve-based community members, men, women, and Two-Spirit and queer Indigenous storytellers. The contents of the stories range in variety including the importance, significance, history and birth of the North Saskatchewan river, the significant impact Indigenous women in history such as Louise Umphreville and Victoria Belcourt Callihoo made, medicinal plant teachings, renaming, the importance of Two-Spirit and queer Indigenous people, water deities, ceremony and Cree creation story excerpts, and the connection between residential schools and the Queen. This project also saw that the 98 of the existing Commonwealth Walkway stories were updated for accuracy and sensitivity, both from recommendations from pipikwan pehtakwan, our community partner in this project, and from additional researchers and historians.

Partners & Contributors

The original 2019 phase of the CWW was as a partnership between the Commonwealth Walkway Trust, the City of Edmonton, Explore Edmonton, EPCOR, Naheyawin, and the Edmonton Heritage Council in 2019. Our current 2024 Edmonton Commonwealth Walkway App includes many more partners and participants, including the Government of Canada through the Canadian Heritage Museums Assistance Program, pipikwan pêhtâkwan, FAVA studios, and the City of Edmonton’s Indigenous Relations Office. Special thank you to Elders Jerry and Jo-Ann Saddleback for their project guidance, external story reviewers Tom Long, Matthew Hiltermann and Dylan Reade, and all the Indigenous folks who trusted us with their stories.
“Cree camp on Ross flats, Edmonton, Alberta.”, 1905, (CU194708) by Unknown. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.
A Two-Spirit flag hangs next to a framed moose hide in the Heartland space. Photo taken by Jessica Johns in 2023.
The Edmonton downtown skyline and North Saskatchewan River can be seen behind trees and shrubs. Photo by Jessica Johns, 2023.
Cairn commemoration of peace treaty between the Cree and Blackfeet Aboriginal tribes c. 1927. Individuals identified in the photograph include Chief Erminskin, Chief Louis Bull, Chief Rabbit Skin, and Chief Samson as well as John Blue and Hugh John Montgomery. Image courtesy of the City of Edmonton Archives EA-10-2503.

The 2024 updates to the Edmonton Commonwealth Walkway project has been made possible [in part] by the Government of Canada. Ce nouvelle version (2024) au le Edmonton Commonwealth Walkway projet a été rendu possible [en partie] grâce au gouvernement du Canada.